One Month
by Agent Of Artifice
Summary: One-shot. Harry and Cho have a conversation after Dumbledore escapes from his office during Harry's fifth year.


"You sold us out!" Harry yelled at Cho Chang. The two had just been in Dumbledore's office, where the former headmaster had taken the blame for Harry's renegade DADA classes. The Ministry officials had left through the fireplace, leaving the two alone. Cho ran out while Harry was watching them go, and naturally the boy followed her. She stuck herself to the wall, eyes widening as Harry raged at her. "Why would you do something like that? I trusted you! I trusted every single person in that room to keep what we were doing a secret! BUT NOO! You HAD to go and tell Umbridge about it. Give me one good reason why I would ever want to see you again."

By the time his shouting tirade was over, he was breathing heavily, staring at the girl.  
"Harry, I... I had no choice. Malfoy cornered me, demanded to know what you were up to. Umbridge gave him some Veritaserum to use for things like that. His goons forced the stuff down my throat and asked me all kinds of questions. I couldn't help but tell him everything."

She had started to cry. Harry was torn. He knew that it wasn't entirely Cho's fault the group was discovered, but at the same time she was the perfect person to be mad at for giving away the DA's secrets.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm just… it's just that I've had a lot going on. That group meant a lot to me, and just like that it's gone."

He started to walk away, but Cho grabbed his arm. Harry stopped and turned around.

"So what does this mean… for us?" Cho asked.  
"For us? We barely had anything between us before, and now? Now I don't even think I want to be in the same room as you, let alone go out with you. I'm sorry…" He shook his arm free of her grasp and walked off once more, not stopping even when he heard a sob coming from the top of the stairs.

Harry kept walking, wandering around the castle aimlessly until he came upon the Gryffindor common room. Deciding that he didn't have anywhere else to be, he gave the painting the password and stepped inside. The place was mostly deserted. Only the two youngest Weasleys were present, sitting at a corner table with Ron's chess board.

"So the knight is a bit tricky, it moves in a sort of L shape, like this." Ron was explaining to his sister as Harry walked up.  
"Hey guys." He said sullenly as he pulled up a chair. "So you finally agreed, did you?"  
"Yeah, but only because there was nothing else to do to take my mind off earlier." Ginny told him.  
"Right…" Harry said. "So… uh… things are kinda bad right now. Dumbledore's gone. He took the blame for me starting the DA, and now Umbridge is the headmistress. And to top it all off, Cho had the gall to ask if we were OK."  
"Well now there's definitely no change of future DA meetings with Umbridge in charge." Ron said.  
"You and Cho are done?" Ginny asked. Harry nodded at both of them then leaned back in his chair. While he was stretching Ginny gave her brother a look, which prompted a quick response.

"Hermione's gonna want to hear about this. I'm going to the library." Ron said. He quickly stood up and waved his wand at the chess board. The game packed itself up neatly then flew into his bag as he was leaving the portrait hole.

"Do you want to talk about it, Harry? That's got to be rough." The girl said, rubbing his shoulder.  
"I don't know… Its just that after she was the one to give us away, she asks if we're ok. Why would she even think that I would want to talk to her after that?"  
"Don't worry about it. I know that breaking up with someone can be tough, I get that. You just have to move on, find something else to occupy your time."  
"I guess you're right, but now that the DA can't meet anymore I pretty much only have the one hobby left. I think I'd get sick of flying if I got on my broom every time I thought about her." Harry said.  
"Well then… find something new to do."  
"Like what?"  
"What about this." Ginny said, moving her face closer to Harry's. Her scent was almost intoxicating, Harry could barely focus on anything but Ginny's lips, which were on his before he could recover from the first whiff of her.

He kissed her once. Twice. It felt amazing, nothing like kissing Cho. Ginny knew just what to do with every part of her body. Her hands made their way up to his neck and face, firmly grabbing hold. Her lips moved across his in a way that was almost immaculate. Suddenly, he pulled away and stood up.

"What's wrong Harry? Did I do something wrong?" Ginny asked him.  
"No.. nothing, it was…" Harry thought for a minute before letting out a brief chuckle. "It was great, it's just so soon after Cho that I'm not sure that this is what I want, you know?"  
"I… I don't know what to say. I love you, Harry. I always have. I thought you knew that."  
"I did, I do. And I'm flattered, really. I just don't know if I want to start another relationship after the last one betrayed me so blatantly."

Ginny stared at him, her eyes welling up with tears. She crossed her arms and sat back down, lowering her head onto the table, sobbing into her elbow.

Harry cursed at himself inside. He knew he wouldn't be able to resist this for long, he hated seeing other people this upset. He knew that there wasn't much that he could do to cheer her up. The only way he could think of was something that he knew he'd regret in the short term. He didn't like this idea, not one bit, but that didn't stop him from offering.

"Ginny?" Harry asked, hoping that would be enough to get her to move. She turned her head to look at him, but still resting on her arms.  
"Hm?"  
"Give me a month to consider this, ok? I like you, I really do. Cho and I weren't together for long, so if after a month I'm over her, I'll go on a date with you. How does that sound?"  
She sniffed. "Sounds good."  
"Good. I just don't think that snogging someone out of nowhere ten minutes after breaking up is something I want to be doing."

Ginny sat upright in her chair and brushed tears out of her eyes. "OK. One month, to the day."  
"Alright. You'll hold me to that, yeah?" Harry asked.  
"Of course, silly."


End file.
